Matthias Finger is Swiss Post Chair in Management of Network Industries at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.

• 1. Introduction 2. Rationales for Government Regulation 3. Politics of Regulation 4. Regulating Natural Monopolies 5. Competition for the Market 6. Telecommunications and Postal Services 7. Transportation 8. Energy and Water 9. Digitalization and Network Industries 10. Conclusion: The future of network industry regulation

'The important roles networks play in economics, politics, business, sociology, and virtually everything humans engage in has become increasingly recognized, but we really understand little of the detail of individual networks, let alone their dynamics and interactions. This short book fills a major gap by providing a very carefully thought through and clear introduction to what we do know about network industries, essentially those activities that allow us to move, to transport goods, and to communicate.' -- Kenneth Button, George Mason University, USA 'Drawing on both interdisciplinary theory and contemporary practice, Professor Finger offers an essential, insightful, and comprehensive treatment of network and utility industries – including their comparative historical development and relationship to the regulatory state as well as the institutional implications of today's transformative technologies.' -- Janice Beecher, Michigan State University, USA